“It sounded like a good time,” said Alex, in response to my question about why he joined Barton International Group. He had been working in President John Bardo’s office and all of his colleagues were a part of BIG, so he figured it would be in his best interest to join.

Alex Miller joined the Marketing Department of Barton International Group in the fall of 2016. As a junior, he began his work in the group by organizing various files as well as improving the website. Then, over the summer, him and the other members of BIG visited Seattle and met up with numerous businesses in the city. While there, he learned how these various companies began and subsequently succeeded. The most important thing he learned from this was to “surround yourself with people who are coming up instead of down,” – which was exactly what he had done by joining Barton International Group.

Throughout the interview, Alex periodically gave me advice that he had learned from his time being in the group. Through his work on a project for the Salvation Army, he has learned that although there will always be things that you don’t want to do, “suck it up for the good of the project.” He also discussed the importance of everyone in the organization putting an effort into getting work, because “if there’s only one person getting business,” then the company will fail. Finally, he told me that in order to succeed, a business must have different opportunities rather than consistently doing the same things. “I love giving advice,” he said, “I’ve seen a lot of stuff go wrong and a lot of stuff go right.”

Alex’s experience in Barton International Group has provided him with experience doing the type of work he enjoys doing. Once he graduates, Alex plans on finding a place in the Midwest to pursue his talents of being a data analyst and web developer. After visiting Seattle, he is now assured in his dreams of working in a larger city. Because of this, he is searching for a faster paced environment with larger businesses and more opportunities.

Alex recognizes the importance of the parts of Barton International Group that often go unnoticed. He told me that he would miss “the spread of ideas” that come from just talking with one another during meetings. “BIG does a good job of that,” he claimed, before proceeding to tell me about the innovative ideas that the people in the group had discussed recently. “People lose touch of that after they graduate,” he said, almost as a reminder to himself not to forget the importance of listening and understanding peoples’ ideas.

Alex completed the interview with one final piece of advice, which he stated as a known fact while looking directly into my eyes.

Barton International Group is a student run consulting organization who strives to develop educational enrichment opportunities for our members and provide our clients with exceptional, diverse, and creative business solutions.